Bound by Blood, Forged in Fire

In The Field

Ever since the trial, Naval Special Warfare Command has been keeping a closer eye on the operators and it was no secret how things went down and who was involved. SEAL Team 10 was under extensive overwatch and Team 4 had found themselves with mixed responses, they were at odds with SEALs who were outraged that they 'turned' on other operators, and others were sympathetic to the loss of a member of their support team, and everyone else was wary of them, believing that they were being used as a makeshift 'internal affairs'. Julian, Holloway, and Reese were about to be interviewed by an NSWC review board. the laters were done and Julian was next. He was in a waiting room, dressed in his Khakis. He was called up, he saw Captain Masterson the East Coast NSWC CO, a JAG representative, and another representative from HQ behind a table. Opposite them were Commander Blackwell and Lieutenant Commander Faith Coleman, the latter volunteered to be Team 4's legal counsel. After formalities, Jace sat down.

"Chief Petty Officer Gibbs, during the investigation you had firsthand encounters with the defendants," said Masterson. "Is that accurate?"

"Yes, Sir," answered Julian. "Lieutenant Junior Grade Ballard had sent me a series of text messages and I was there when NCIS Agents apprehended Chief Niels."

"One of the Agents was your father and the other was a colleague, yes?" asked Lieutenant Commander Pedros.

"Yes, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs is my father and I worked with Ziva David in Afghanistan."

Coleman stepped in.

"Sir, I would like to point out that though Chief Special Warfare Operator Gibbs was present but did not arrest Niels himself," said Coleman. "Therefore Posse Comitatus was not breached."

"Understood, Commander," said Masterson.

"Chief Gibbs, we have reports saying that you, Lieutenant Holloway, and Petty Officer Reese engaged in a verbal altercation with Lieutenant Swarek." pressed the HQ rep. "Did any of you engage him physically?"

"No, sir. It was strictly verbal."

"I'll get right to the point," said Masterson, tired of all the hoop-jumping. "All we're interested in knowing is whether or not you trust the Chain of Command and the other teams, despite recent events."

"Yes, Sir. I do."

"And do you understand why this is taking place?" asked the HQ representative.

"Yes, Sir. A sailor who has another agenda is a risk and a SEAL is a team member through and through."

The review board looked at each other, satisfied with what they heard, agreeing on the matter at hand.

"Alright Chief Gibbs, you are cleared for active duty, Thank you for your time."

With that everyone was dismissed.

. . .

Two and half months later

At the Navy Yard, the MCRT agents were prepping to go to South America for a Counter-Narcotics operation. They had been briefed on the mission and their roles. Special Forces were going to train local military and police forces in vital techniques for their operations. Navy SEALs were going to conduct the reconnaissance and augment the DOJ's tactical units' field operations, and the Marine Raiders were going to augment both. NCIS was tasked with coordinating with SOUTHCOM Counter-Narcotics Law Enforcement entities. Most of the SOF units got a head start, SEAL Team 4 deployed three weeks ago, and the 7th Special Forces (Patterson's group) deployed a week after. The Marines were going to escort the DOJ members of the unit there tonight. They were going to Nicaragua first, the rest was to be determined.

Ziva and the others, except Gibbs, had minimal contact with Jace since the Niels Case. They decided to give him space given that he had been caught in the middle of everything. Whatever contact Ziva made with Jace had been through Kathleen, she assured her that there was no ill will. She told Ziva that as far as she knew Julian had no trouble with other SEALs.

. . .

Julian was preparing for a coastal patrol exercise, he and half of the platoon were tasked with assisting with a foreign internal defense until the rest of the task force arrived. He scheduled a riverside counterassault exercise for local forces. He noticed Captain Patterson standing by the docks.

"Chief, just wanted to make to see what your training plan had in store," said Patterson, half telling the truth.

"Come on, Captain," responded Jace, like his father he preferred to get to the point. "Just be blunt with me."

"Jace I just wanted you to know that I wouldn't have done anything differently."

"Josh-"

"Back when I was a Lieutenant in the 5th Group a few of my guys visited a, uh" Patterson was cut up, Julian had never seen him like this, not since they were kids. "brothel, we were about to go to Afghanistan so I waited to report it until afterward."

Jace was shell-shocked, this was the first he heard of this.

"Army CID told me that one of the girls was found dead, my guys were arrested when the Germans found them on a street camera at the club. She was barely in her twenties."

"That couldn't have been on you, it isn't on you."

"The point is if someone is taking advantage of the code, of the brotherhood, people will get hurt. Taking action is necessary."

. . .

The DOJ team, CPO Brooke, and the MARSOC Marines were on another Grumman C-1 Trader, everyone but Gibbs was asleep, he was speaking to Gunnery Sergeant Maxwell. He had his own opinions of the Niels Case.

"If I saw a Marine kill another I'd wind up doing something that would get me locked up."

"I'll take that to my grave."

"Jace was right to do what he did, turning a blind eye doesn't do any good."

Gibbs was glad to hear that his son wasn't alone.

. . .

They'd just gotten word of an In Extremis Hostage Situation that demanded immediate action, but they had little time to plan everything in detail. Two police cadres and an unidentified woman were captured by one of the local cartels. They had begun torturing the captives and the locals were ill-prepared, they were under-trained and lacked the right equipment. Julian first saw one during his time attached to a Maritime Special Purpose Force unit back when he was a Corpsman.

"Listen up!" shouted Julian. "We've got 22 hours until the first hostage is executed!"

Everyone stopped to listen. Such incidents were rare in their careers and HR missions were typically reserved for JSOC units. However, none were available on such short notice. The Marines and DOJ tactical components weren't going to arrive on time.

"I don't need to tell you how important this is," continued Jace. "So all you need to do is keep your heads cool and in a swivel and it'll be a breeze."

The compound was at the bottom side of a moderately sized mountain by a river, guarded by 30 to 40 hostiles. Most were in trucks mounted with machine guns. The ODA was going in via helicopter 10 miles north of the compound and the SEALs were entering by diving through the banks of the river. Once they had the hostages they were going to be extracted via SWCC 13 klicks from the compound.

Lieutenant Holloway arrived, receiving news from the translator. Judging by his facial expression, it wasn't good.

"The woman has been ID'd, she's the Chief of Police's daughter."